The history of the yellow school bus is steeped in Americana. That vehicle performs a very important job, carrying many of America's school students many places. Safety is paramount, hence, the color “School Bus Yellow” was designated by the Congress of the United States of America to be the official color of the school bus. Additionally, a school bus has the authority to control traffic in order to offer protection for students leaving the vehicle.
Typically, the bus operator initiates a signaling protocol using lights mounted on the school bus. Red and yellow traffic control lights are paired high up, front and rear, both left and right to provide maximum visibility. In particular, to caution a motorist to stop, alternating yellow lights flash for a period of time. Next, after the expiration of that period of time, alternating red lights flash commanding: “STOP, DO NOT PASS THE SCHOOL BUS!”
Unfortunately, this light signaling protocol is not optimal. For example, often, from the perspective of a driver moving towards a bus that has initiated such a protocol, the change from a yellow cautionary signal to red stop command occurs abruptly. Such abrupt change increases the chance that the red stop signal will cause the motorist to stop short, possibly causing an accident.
Thus, there is a need for an improved signaling protocol—one that will enhance the safety of not only the motorist approaching a school bus, but also of the children that are leaving or are about to leave the bus.